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Serra The Angel
= II. Serra = Serra, also known as the "Great Angel" and the "Brightest One" during her lifetime, was the General of The Revenants (2nd company) of super soldiers. She was killed during the climax of the Palamedes Insurrection at the Battle of Seoul defending the City of Seoul from the Warmaster Palamedes. Though Palamedes slew Serra, who had once been his closest and greatest friend amongst the other Generals, legend holds that it was the chink in Palamedes' armour created by the Angel that allowed Titus to slay the Arch-traitor and thus prevent Mankind from falling to the Nomads. History The Super Soldier Project The super soldier companies were the creation of the Director of Seoul. He had crafted incredible warriors to help him conquer the world and reunite Mankind's colony cities. Amongst these companies were the Revenants, who from their earliest days fought staunchly in the service of Director and General both. Like all the great super soldier companies, The Revenants were born from the dying flames of the Age of Strife. The Director had long ago refined the techniques of genetic manipulation, and He set these skills to work, forging twelve extraordinary human super/mega soldiers, each an embodiment of an aspect of war as his generals in the coming campaign within his secret gene-laboratory hidden beneath Seoul. Thus were born the generals of the super soldier companies, incredible beings, and beneath them in their companies, weaker versions born from their blood. Yet, as with all great labours, the genesis of the Super Soldier did not go entirely according to design the Director's plan for, his generals were to be undone even before it had properly begun. The secret of the experiments had made its way to the other free cities leaders. To avoid the experiment being shut down it was agreed that every city would raise two of the twelve generals to keep the power between the 6 cities balanced. Serra Comes to Mérida Soon after the Director created the generals, the envoys made off with the infants and carried them to their transportation. The gestation pod that housed the infant Serra came to Mérida, the infant General was placed into the care of a tribe of humans who called themselves the Folk of Pure Blood, or simply "The Blood." The young Serra's life almost came to an end then and there. Tiny vestigial wings, like those of an angel, emerged from her back. Many wanted to kill the child as a mutant, though in all other ways she was as perfect a child as had ever been seen. Eventually innate compassion prevailed and the child was spared. Serra was indeed angelic, not just physically, but also within her unblemished soul. Although the details of Serra's' early life are lost to time and memory, the notable events of her childhood have been told and retold so many thousands of times by the Méridian tribes that they have become ingrained in cultural memory. Like the other Generals, Serra grew to maturity at an incredible rate, as did her wings. The feathers were as white and pure as a swan's, but as strong as those of the eagle itself. Her wings ultimately became mighty pinions that could bear her aloft through the scorching desert air, inspiring awe and devotion from the lesser beings beneath. Serra learned everything her adoptive parents within the Blood could taught him. After only three weeks she was as large as a child of three years and could walk. It is said that at this age she slew a giant scorpion with her bare hands, and that she never once showed fear at the colossal beast's onset. By the time she was a year old, Serra looked and acted like a woman in her youthful prime. She could walk without a radiation suit in the poisoned, radioactive wastelands. In the use of all weapons she soon excelled her teachers. She could smash a path through a rockfall with the blade of her hand, best wild animals with but a glance and soar high into the sky on her mighty wings to observe the land below from the perspective of a god. As Serra reached maturity, her tribe prospered and grew under her wise guidance. When a wandering band of feral mutants surprised her tribe, Serra slew them all single-handedly, although they numbered over a hundred. This was the first time the members of the Blood had ever seen the Angel truly angry, for she felt her comrades' lives were in danger. When the blood-rage overtook her she was indeed terrible to behold. The full powers of a general came upon her and a nimbus of light played about her head. The Director Returns Though the loss of the Generals was a bitter blow, the Director was not dismayed for long. The Generals themselves could not be recreated, but their genetic records and samples of their genetic material remained, and from these the Director created the mighty super soldier companies the armies he had always intended his generals to lead. The director came to Mérida in search of Serra, he had arrived at the Conclave of the Folk of Pure Blood, and the director entered the massive natural amphitheatre. Those of the Pure Blood attended Serra’s' address by the thousands. The Director stood within their ranks, the Director knew humility, and he listened as intently as any warrior there. Serra gave a speech which lifted the very souls of these people, giving them more than hope, at its conclusion soaring into the air above them with a shout that every man there echoed. Thus the Director was convinced without a doubt that the Angel was indeed one of his lost children, his only daughter. When approached, Serra recognised the Director immediately. Many believe that Serra’s reputed ability to foresee future events informed her of the Director's visit, explaining her reaction. She fell to her knees, crystal tears falling from her cheeks into the crimson dust. Where they fell, alabaster flowers thrived upon the barren and toxic soils of Mérida. The Director bade her stand, and looked upon the myriad faces raised unto him, proud and resolute. He saw that the men and women of the Blood were both fair in mind and deed, possessed of a small part of the nobility and strength of their leader. The best of Serra's warriors were subsequently selected to become soldiers, implanted with the very core of Serra's physical being; the pure and precious gene-seed that the Director had engineered from the general's own genome. These warriors were raised up into the 2nd Company of the Free Cities Police Force (FCPF), better known as The Revenants, and then launched upon the Director's Great plan alongside those members of the FCPF who had been raised from Seoul. Resplendent in glittering armour, shrouded in white wings, Serra was the noblest of the generals in physical aspect. Proud and resolute, the Angel radiated confidence so vital that any shadows of doubt were banished beneath her light. The detail of the generals intricately-worked armour was rendered perfectly, the sculpted edges of the golden battle-plate visible along with the fine etching across the brassarts, shoulder guards and breastplate. On her chest was a heavy ornamental roundel carved from huge rubies. The central jewel was cut into the shape of a heart and set on a mount of gold flames, and it signifies the burning spirit of The Revenants as expressed through their General. Across one shoulder she wore a ceremonial war cloak, the black-dappled pelt of a snow leopard. The ice stalker had been Serra’s first kill during the pacification of some northern territories, the first battle she had fought beside her company after reuniting with her father. The Flaw Before her fall, Palamedes and Serra had fought many battles by each other's side. Their relationship was so close it had even incited jealousy amongst their brother generals on occasion. But in his black heart Palamedes knew that Serra would never willingly betray their father, and so he had formulated an audacious plan to either convert The Revenant Company to his cause or utterly destroy them. To this end, Palamedes had discovered earlier a carefully guarded secret of The Revenants when he fought alongside Serra’s 2nd company in a battle at old Petrograd. Palamedes had come upon his sister general in a sunken ruin of an pre-war chapel and had witnessed the unthinkable Serra murdering one of her own soldiers. Serra explained her actions to her bewildered brother. He had discovered that within his own genome there was a terrible trait that lay buried and waiting to be awakened. This genetic flaw would later be known as the Red Thirst. Serra had been aware of the flaw in her genome for several years, keeping the truth from the Director and her fellow Generals. Some of the Angel's sons had learned a measure of the truth, but only Azkaellon, First Captain and Raldoron, the 2nd companies doctor and a few others were fully aware of the extent of this affliction carried within their general's genome. They were united with Serra in finding a way to repair this "Flaw." Palamedes swore to his sister that he would never speak of this matter to anyone, even their father. He would keep this promise for as long as Serra wished him to. The Angel was touched by her brother's gesture and expressed her gratitude. Palamedes solemnly vowed to help Serra deal with this matter, however long it took. Little did they know at the time that one day a corrupted Palamedes would take full advantage of this knowledge and attempt to turn The Revenants Flaw against them. The African Campaign Palamedes exploited this knowledge of The Revenants' genetic Flaw. The Warmaster had found a way to sway his "beloved" sisters Company to his cause and the service of the Nomads or see it destroyed before it could become an impediment to his plan to drive on Seoul and take the city for his own. It is said that after his turn to the Nomads, Palamedes hated and feared Serra more than any of his brothers and wove many strategies to ensnare or slay her, though all failed. In an effort to weaken and divide the Loyalist forces before he made clear his betrayal, the Warmaster charged the 2nd Company with the arduous task of cleansing the North African Coast line. Serra's Company was ordered to cleanse the coastline of any threats and release the humans settlers. Unaware of the Warmaster's perfidy, Serra willingly obeyed his brother General’s commands and immediately set out for this volatile region of Earth with her Company. Unbeknownst to The Revenants, they were blindly walking into a deadly trap, for the African Coast had fallen prey to agents of the Nomads. When The Revenants arrived, their fleet was ambushed by the forces of the Nomads, crippling or killing many of their Navigators In the initial onslaught. The Revenants now faced the fury of Nomads for the first time. The Revenants prepared their counterattack, sure that they would prevail. Rising to the challenge, The Revenants attacked, launching a series of attacks across the seat of the Nomad’s power, the ruined city of Tunis. Serra faced the vast hordes of Nomads as an Angel of Vengeance. Soon the coast line was awash with the blood of both loyal Super Soldiers and hundreds of slain Nomads. The General spearheaded The Revenants' assault on the Nomad’s seat of power in Tunis, known as the Cathedral of the Mark, to confront and destroy them and reclaim the city in the name of the Free Cities. But soon Serra came face-to-face with a hundred strong host of men armed to the teeth. 50 super soldiers lost their lives during the ambush at the Cathedral of the Mark. The psychic backlash of the death of so many of his soldiers blasted Serra into unconsciousness. With the slaughtering of their brethren, The Revenants company was consumed by the first onset of what was later known as the black rage that drove them into a berserker's fury as they charged the Nomadic hordes. In their madness they smashed the Nomads asunder. Yet the brutal violence of the Nomad’s had unleashed something dark within the psyche of the soldiers, a thirst for blood that would not be slaked until every enemy had been erased from the coastline Only when the coastline was cleansed did the rage of The Revenants finally subside. Though the coastline had been freed from it’s thrall to the Nomads, the cost of that victory was far higher than any could have wished. The berserker rage The Revenants haad experienced had left a brooding shadow on their souls. Within a few days the grievous wounds that Serra had suffered at the hands of the Nomads healed as a result of her accelerated metabolism and superhuman immune system. Whatever befell her in the future, the general swore that she would have her vengeance. When the call from Areus came for the 2nd company to return to Seoul and aid in its defence against the Traitors, The Revenants made all haste, as she now understood better than most the gravity of the situation facing them. Serra’s Foresight Sometimes gift, sometimes curse, the winged sire of The Revenants was among that small number of Generals able to glimpse what would to come to pass. Through this ability Serra saw many things, echoes of dark futures and grim fates that haunted her dreams and drove her to act in ways that oftentimes seemed strange to her brothers. She could not guide her foresight or direct it to see where she would. It came to her unreliably and without her will or control. It taunted her with dire premonitions, beset her with doubts over her choices and yet to many it was seen as a gift. It was a burden borne by the general almost alone, for her own gene-sons next to none inherited the talent. Of that tiny handful that did, it was little more than a fragment, a tiny scrap of sight. Most well-known among these talents were those who foresaw a single moment of the future with absolute clarity, that of their own death. These warriors were known among the ranks of the 2nd company as "the Forsaken", for they were given to a fatalistic and grim outlook, ever seeking the signs of their final day. Such was the curse of the Foresight, that it brought neither comfort nor answers, only ever sorrow, pain and doubt. Gear Blade Encarmine The Blade Encarmine is an ornate Sword The sword is said to only respond to those who carry the gene code of Serra. Spear Of Telesto Its blade is shaped like an elongated tear with a hollow in the centre to represent the single drop of blood Serra shed when she swore fealty to the Director. The shaft is sculpted to show the general as a hooded angel of blood. In combat, the spear can emit a blast of energy which vaporizes anyone who doesn't have the blood of Serra in thier veins. Moonsilver Blade The Moonsilver Blade was said to have been granted to Serra by Areus. Regalia Resplendent The Regalia Resplendent was a suit of ornately decorated golden armour. It was tailored to her unique form and provided Serra with superlative protection, while also still allowing the General to move freely in flight.